Patient benefits from new centre

A local businesswoman who suffers from an extreme skin disorder has a new spring in her step following the official launch of a new €2 ­million Dermatology Outpatient Centre at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.

Adrienne Florence Purcell, who runs her own interior design company, was born with Atopic Chronic Exzema and has had to manage the condition all her life.
The 51-year-old, who lives in Ballina-Killaloe, was admitted to the dermatology service at the Mid-Western Hospital in Limerick two-and-a-half years ago under the care of Mr Bart Ramsay.
After 50 years of GP care and alternative medicines, which included  travelling the world, endeavouring to find a solution/maintenance cure for the condition with no joy, she is eternally grateful for eventually finding the service, which has changed her life.
She said that the facilities that have been in place up to now were not up to date and didn’t appear to be designed for dermatology use without adequate space for topical therapy or laser treatments.
“The accommodation was fragmented and there was a lack of privacy, which is most important for such chronic conditions.
“Despite the facilities, I am extremely thankful to Mr Ramsay and his professional team for the decorum and graciousness that they extended towards me,” she said.
The new Dermatology Outpatient Centre, which will be part of a €10.5m health complex, will bring all dermatology services together at one location and act as a focus for dramatic improvements in services for dermatology patients throughout the region.
Official figures have revealed that 6,280 patients were seen by the dermatology service at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital last year.
Ms Purcell said she believed the grouping together of dermatology services on one single floor at a cost of €2m would provide a dedicated area, which would profoundly  change how dermatology patient care can be delivered at Limerick hospital.
In addition to praising the Mid-Western Hospitals Development Trust, she lauded the work of Limerick businessman and horse owner JP McManus for providing much-needed money for the trust.
“Obviously, there will be the facility for more expertise in medical staff being able to cater for the huge amount of eczema sufferers in this country.
“I believe they will have a facility in which they will be able to demonstrate, to both sufferer and parents of children with this condition, how to administer the necessary medications to control the disease. 
“This is just one example of how many more benefits can be attained by this service and there will be an opportunity for more staff to be employed, thus shortening waiting lists, which I believe can be as long as several years presently.
“A single-level service will be able to act more as a central focal point to develop staff skills that can be used out in the peripheral hospitals in Ennis and Nenagh and will therefore be the physical catalyst that will allow dramatic improvement in the care.
“Due to the expertise and care of this outstanding team, I have had tremendous success and much-enhanced quality of life and am excited about future successes for others, with the implementation of such a new facility,” she said.